Fast and easy Oct 30, 2007
The inside of my plane ticket holder said this: 
[Image: fasteasy.png]
Shame on you, Continental. #entertainment
ESPN websites Oct 30, 2007
I've noticed lately that ESPN's websites are, quite simply, great.  The one I have the most experience with is their Fantasy Football site, which is designed in such a way that it makes me feel like I'm paying money to use it, though I'm not.  It's a combination of the easy-to-read layout, the lack of obtrusive ads, the simple yet powerful functionality, and the cruft-free URLs (I have a thing for that).  I'm consistently surprised that they offer this stuff for free, and I'd like to shake the hands of the members of the web design department and say, "Thanks for not being someone like Yahoo or Weather.com, who treat me like a criminal trying to access their proprietary information." 

The same is true about their mobile site.  To be honest, there's an ad at the top of every page.  But for whatever reason, I find it incredibly easy to ignore.  Other than the ad, the site just has simple and to-the-point content.  Sports scores.  Team profiles.  Play by play. 

It seems like ESPN is providing a service out of their own good will, not running a website for profit.  I know they must make some amount of money from this, otherwise they would discontinue it.  But the simplicity and usability of their websites makes me feel I'm getting something for free, which is unusual these days.  Kudos, ESPN. #technology
Televised sports on the west coast Oct 30, 2007
I spent some time in Arizona last week, and the best part about it was their televised sports schedule.  Monday Night Football started at 5:30pm!  That's dinner time!  It ended at around 8:30!  I stayed up until the end of the game, and I wasn't tired the next day.  What a concept. 

It was the same for all nighttime sports, including the World Series and Thursday night college football.  It was truly amazing to be able to watch an entire night game without having to plan my life around it. 

I live on the east coast, as does every person I know and have ever known.  I have no concept of what people from other time zones do.  My experience in Pacific Standard Time was truly eye-opening. #entertainment